From Ohio History Central

The Scioto Company was involved in land investment and development in the Ohio Country beginning in 1789. Among the company's stockholders were Winthrop Sargent and Manasseh Cutler. William Duer was one of its officers. Although the company had reserved 4.5 million acres from Congress, the company began selling land to French immigrants before actually paying for and obtaining title to the lands in Ohio. Land agent William Playfair kept the company's money for himself, and the investors were not able to pay Congress for the land.

When the French immigrants arrived in Ohio, they discovered that the company's representatives had cheated them. The land that they had purchased actually belonged to the Ohio Company of Associates rather than to the Scioto Company. Many of the immigrants returned to the East. The people who chose to stay either had to pay the Ohio Company for their land or move to the area set aside for them by the American government known as the French Grant.

Some of those who stayed settled in Gallipolis, where life was extremely difficult in the early years. The Scioto Company opened a store in the community and promised the settlers additional resources, but did not have sufficient funds to follow through on its promises. In the end, the French had to rely on themselves rather than the Scioto Company in order to survive life on the frontier.